Right. For all those wondering about the property tax situation, here is the judgment:
https://www.caselaw.nsw.gov.au/decision/5bd64194e4b0a8a74af0a79c
Gertos was paying the land tax since at least 2004.
The NSW system appears to be such that if you own property over a certain value you have to register for land tax and tell the authorities what land you own. Every bit of land has a state-assessed value which you pay tax on.
https://www.revenue.nsw.gov.au/taxes/land
Do they check whether two people are paying tax on the same bit of land without being registered as joint owners? I doubt it. Why would they?
I do like one of the plaintiffs arguments - that the limitation period shouldn’t run because Mr Downie was someone ‘under a disability’ being unable to manage his affairs by reason of being dead.
As the judge put it:
As I understood the submission, it was put that Mr Downie is a person incapable of managing his affairs by reason of an impairment of his physical condition. However, it seems to me that death is something more than an impairment of one’s physical condition.
More importantly:
In any event, it is my opinion that “person” for the purposes of ss 11(3) and 52 of the Act does not extend to a person who is no longer alive (see Guthrie v Spence (2009) 78 NSWLR 225; [2009] NSWCA 369 at [117]). The event of death brings about the end of the person. The ordinary meaning of “person” does not include those who are no longer alive. The inclusive definition of “person” contained in s 21 of the Interpretation Act 1987 (NSW), which refers to an individual, does not in my view extend to someone who is no longer alive. The language of s 11(3) does not suggest that something different is intended. It makes no sense to speak of a person managing his or her affairs if they are no longer alive. The submission, which was barely developed, is in my view without substance.
